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Steampunk, Ribofunk, Even if it's Old Junk, it's Still Rock and Roll to Me

My apologies for the lack of updates through August, but I was working on a number of articles for publication. I finished up my Nemo article and sent it off the Verniana, and I heard back from the Journal of Neo-Victorian studies about my Steam Wars article - it needs revising, but it's still under consideration! Additionally, the ultimate fan-boy Chris Garcia contacted me about writing some stuff for Exhibit Hall, his new fanzine. I wrote an article for Issue One of Exhibit Hall called "Steampunk, Ribofunk, even if it's Old Junk, it's still Rock and Roll to Me." Here's an opening teaser.

I find the lyrics to Billy Joel’s “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” playing in my head whenever I turn to the task of working out a precise definition for the steampunk aesthetic. I keep coming back to one stanza in particular:

Oh, it doesn’t matter what they say in the papers‘Cause it’s always been the same old scene.There’s a new band in townBut you can’t get the sound from a story in a magazine...Aimed at your average teen

I played in a few indie bands before I got into academia, so I often find myself mashing pop lyrics up against scholarly ideas. In this case, Billy Joel gets to come into conversation with religion scholars Carl Olson and Willi Braun. I will attempt to provide a condensed overview of the issues and problems of defining religion as argued in chapter one of Carl Olson’s Theory and Method in the Study of Religion, and Willi Braun’s articles “Religion” and “The Study of Religion and the Mischief of Curiosity.”

I teach English full-time at MacEwan University, research steampunk and speculative literature, and giant monsters. I speak at cons and conferences, and draw and write in my spare time.
I am as avid a FRPG player as one can be with kids, a wife, and a yard.

Upcoming Appearances

If you'd like to have me present at your event, contact me at mikeperschon at shaw dot ca.

2016No appearances scheduled

What people are saying about Mike Perschon, Steampunk Scholar

"...one of Canada's most honourable and brilliant thinkers... He truly is a man of many talents. In the steampunk arena he has proven himself time and again to be open minded, thorough, direct and detailed in his reviews and academic works on various media from art to literature, film and even the obscure. He has been a wonderful panelist and presenter at various gatherings in Canada and the United States. I expect he will be invited to attend many more as people learn more about him. He is a true gentleman with a wonderful sense of humour and wonder. His students are indeed lucky."- Lee Ann Farruga, Steampunk Canada

"The Steampunk Scholar is my new blog crush. The guy is living my dream. He is doing research on a really awesome topic with cool conferences, the chance to role play and dress up in period clothes, and, best of all, having normal people probably [find] it interesting."- Historiographic Anarchy

"The Steampunk Scholar is a brilliant in-depth resource on all things steampunk fiction." - Louise Curtis

"For excellent reviews of the growing Steampunk literary genre, do make a point to visit (then bookmark) the Steampunk Scholar." - Steampunk Tribune

"Some of the best scholarship being done on the subject of Steampunk has been by Mike Perschon on his blog, Steampunk Scholar." - Christopher J. Garcia

"His explanation of how to define Steampunk was the most clever and concise version I’ve ever heard..." J.M. Frey

"...the most well-read of all the voices in the steampunk movement." - Jonathan D. Beer